Status monitoring system and status monitoring method for rolling device

• US 9,335,317 B2
• Filed: 02/24/2012
• Issued: 05/10/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/03/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NTN Corporation
• Original Assignee: NTN Corporation
• Inventors: Miwa, Noriaki, Kitagawa, Takakazu, Kawakita, Masayuki, Maeda, Hisamitsu, Matsubara, Yukio, Sakaguchi, Tomoya
• Primary Examiner(s): Caputo, Lisa
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tran, Tran M
• Application Number:
  US14/002,878
• Publication Number:
  US 20140007657A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,537 Days
• Field of Search: 73/530.5
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: F16C 19/52 with devices affected by abnormal or undesired conditions
• CPC Class Codes: F16C 33/667 related to conditioning, e.g. cooling, filtering
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 13/04 Bearings
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 27/221 by investigating the dielectric properties using microwaves G01N22/00; measuring loss factors or dielectric constants per se G01R27/26
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/2888 Lubricating oil characteristics, e.g. deterioration lubricating properties G01N33/30

Abstract

A status monitoring system for accurately determining the contaminant water concentration in a lubricant oil used in a rolling device includes a contaminant water concentration monitoring device configured to monitor the contaminant water concentration in the lubricant oil. The contaminant water concentration monitoring device includes an electrostatic capacitance detector and an oil temperature measuring instrument, which are configured to detect the electrostatic capacitance and the oil temperature of the lubricant oil, respectively, and a water concentration calculation section configured to calculate the contaminant water concentration from the detected electrostatic capacitance and oil temperature in accordance with a predetermined rule.

Claims

1. A status monitoring system to monitor a status of a rolling device, comprising:

a contaminant water concentration monitoring device to monitor a contaminant water concentration in a lubricant oil, the contaminant water concentration monitoring device including;

an electrostatic capacitance detector to detect an electrostatic capacitance in the lubricant oil;

an oil temperature measuring instrument to detect an oil temperature in the lubricant oil;

a water concentration calculation section to calculate the contaminant water concentration in accordance with a predetermined rule from the electrostatic capacitance detected by the electrostatic capacitance detector and the oil temperature detected by the oil temperature measuring instrument;

a lubricant oil reservoir formed as a portion of a housing of the rolling device and capable of performing an oil bath lubrication; and

a measurement chamber for measurement of the electrostatic capacitance and the oil temperature inside or outside of the housing,

wherein the electrostatic capacitance detector and the oil temperature measuring instrument are provided within the measurement chamber, and

the measurement chamber is formed with partitions in the case where the measurement chamber is provided inside the housing.

2. The status monitoring system for the rolling device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a circulating oiling mechanism capable of performing a circulating oiling.

3. The status monitoring system for the rolling device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a stirrer to stir the lubricant oil within the measurement chamber for measurement of the electrostatic capacitance and the oil temperature.

4. The status monitoring system for the rolling device as claimed in claim 3, further comprising a mechanism to facilitate a discharge of water or an additive, having a specific gravity higher than that of the lubricant oil, from the measurement chamber for measurement of the electrostatic capacitance and the oil temperature and from the rolling device.

5. The status monitoring system for the rolling device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising an abnormality diagnostic section to compare the contaminant water concentration, calculated by the water concentration calculation section, with a threshold value and to determine an occurrence of an abnormality in the event that the contaminant water concentration is higher than the threshold value.

6. An abnormality diagnostic threshold value setting method for a status monitoring system of a rolling device as described in claim 5 for determining the threshold value for the abnormality diagnostic section, comprising:

determining a threshold value for the contaminant water concentration through a rolling slide fatigue test in which water is injected into the lubricant oil, the contaminant water concentration is monitored by measuring the electrostatic capacitance and the oil temperature, and feeding the measured contaminant water concentration back so as to control the amount of water injected so that the contaminant water concentration is maintained within a constant range; and

setting the threshold value so determined to the abnormality diagnostic section as a threshold value.

7. An abnormality diagnostic threshold value setting method for a status monitoring system of a rolling device as described in claim 5 for determining the threshold value for the abnormality diagnostic section, comprising:

determining a threshold value for the contaminant water concentration through a rolling slide fatigue life test in which a slide is caused in a contact surface by a motion mechanism between elements that contact with each other; and

setting the threshold value so determined to the abnormality diagnostic section as a threshold value.

8. An abnormality diagnostic threshold value setting method for a status monitoring system of a rolling device as described in claim 5 for determining the threshold value for the abnormality diagnostic section, comprising:

determining a threshold value for the contaminant water concentration through a rolling slide fatigue life test in which a slide is forcibly caused in a contact surface between elements that contact with each other; and

setting the threshold value so determined to the abnormality diagnostic section as a threshold value.

9. An abnormality diagnostic threshold value setting method for a status monitoring system of a rolling device as described in claim 5 for determining the threshold value for the abnormality diagnostic section, comprising:

determining a threshold value for the contaminant water concentration through a rolling slide fatigue life test in which one direction rotation at a constant rotational speed is continued until occurrence of a damage; and

setting the threshold value so determined to the abnormality diagnostic section as a threshold value.

10. An abnormality diagnostic threshold value setting method for a status monitoring system of a rolling device as described in claim 5 for determining the threshold value for the abnormality diagnostic section, comprising:

determining a threshold value for the contaminant water concentration through a rolling slide fatigue life test in which acceleration and deceleration operation is continued until occurrence of a damage; and

setting the threshold value so determined to the abnormality diagnostic section as a threshold value.

11. An abnormality diagnostic threshold value setting method for a status monitoring system of a rolling device as described in claim 5 for determining the threshold value for the abnormality diagnostic section, comprising:

determining a threshold value for the contaminant water concentration through a rolling slide fatigue life test in which rocking motion is continued until occurrence of a damage; and

setting the threshold value so determined to the abnormality diagnostic section as a threshold value.

12. An abnormality diagnostic threshold value setting method for a status monitoring system of a rolling device as described in claim 5 for determining the threshold value for the abnormality diagnostic section, comprising:

determining a threshold value for the contaminant water concentration through a rolling slide fatigue life test in which a mechanism to directly connect a main shaft of a servo motor and a spindle of a testing portion is used in order to eliminate an overlapping vibration component so that a damage in rocking motion may be accurately detected with a vibration; and

setting the threshold value so determined to the abnormality diagnostic section as a threshold value.

13. An abnormality diagnostic threshold value setting method for a status monitoring system of a rolling device as described in claim 5 for determining the threshold value for the abnormality diagnostic section, comprising:

determining a threshold value for the contaminant water concentration through a rolling slide fatigue life test in which a motor and a spindle of a testing portion are insulated with the use of a rolling element made of a ceramic material for a support bearing assembly for the spindle in order to facilitate an abrasion of an object to be damaged by supplying an electric current between contact elements with the to-be-damaged object being on a positive pole side, and

setting the threshold value so determined to the abnormality diagnostic section as a threshold value.

14. An abnormality diagnostic threshold value setting method for a status monitoring system of a rolling device as described in claim 5 for determining the threshold value for the abnormality diagnostic section, comprising:

determining a threshold value for the contaminant water concentration by the use of a rolling slide fatigue life test device capable of performing accelerating and decelerating operation and a rocking motion in addition to the one direction rotation at the constant rotational speed, and

setting the threshold value so determined to the abnormality diagnostic section as a threshold value.